This one has a very special place in my heart, and brings back a flood of childhood memories.

My gammy lives in Nipani (a tiny place right on the border between Maharashtra and Karnataka). It is infact a very tiny place, and one can literally walk the whole city in a day (circumference and through). Since I have been born (my sister was 5 then), every school break / her summer vacation, we have been spending a good long 2 months with our grand-parents. My grandfather would always take us to the small market area, which had all possible stalls in one location ; vegetables, clothes, shoes, libraries. You name it and you can find it there. It was a major market area for the city, all located in one place.

I was too young to walk around that much then, and would always end up sitting on his shoulders and getting a birds-eye view. The stall that would always catch my eye and entertain me and call to me the most was the murmura / churmure / puffed rice / चुरमुरे stall.

His kiosk couldn’t be any bigger than a 5x5 stall. He would have a massive kadai filled with sand kept on a stove burning with coal. That aroma, I can never forget. Hot sand and coal smell, with rice roasting in it, is a whole different experience! We would always get 3 - 4 big bags of murmure from him, as he was the best in the market. Sitting on my grandpas shoulders, i would be holding on to two bags and my sister would be carrying one big one. Apart from finishing almost half a bag by the time we reached home, my nani would make Bhadang out of those for us to snack on, through the rest of our vacation.

Those were, are and would always be the best tasting churmure EVER! Even now, whenever we go back to India, it's a permanent request for my aunts to parcel me a big bag of churmure and nothing else.

PREP TIME TOTAL TIMESERVINGS

2 - 3 minutes10 minutesDepends on if the kids/adults make a meal out of it or just a snack!

RECIPEHeat oil in a casserole. Add the sliced garlic and the chopped green chillies and allow them to fry well. Allow the garlic to brown slightly and the chillies to get fried completely.

Add the cumin and mustard seeds to this and allow them to cook.

Add the curry leaves to the casserole and allow them to fry completely, making them crispy. Then SWITCH OFF the flame and add the turmeric powder and hing. Take the casserole off the flame and stir well, allowing it to cool just slightly.

Add all the murmure / puffed rice, to the casserole. Adjust the salt and stir well coating the churmure well with the masala.

MY NOTESA lot of variations of this are made. Some add (gujaratis) add powdered sugar to it too.

Some add sliced dry coconut pieces and peanuts.

This can also be had with chopped tomatoes, onions and coriander seeds as dry bhel.